Explanatory Notesl
1 . Whereas Douglass’s Narrative contained front matter by two prominent white abolitionists (a preface by William Lloyd Garrison and an introductory letter by Wendell Phillips), the black abolitionist James McCune Smith contributed the introduction to MBMF. Smith (1813-1865) descended from freed slaves and received a medical degree from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. On Smith, see David W. Blight, “In Search of Learning, Liberty, and Self Definition: James McCune Smith and the Ordeal of the Antebellum Black Intellectual,” Afro-Americans in New York Life and History 9 (1985): 7-25.
2 . Douglass omitted this detail about Betsey Baily in Narrative.
3 . Douglass omitted this scene from Narrative.
4 . Douglass provided a more detailed description of his mother in MBMF than in Narrative, 48-49.
5 . Douglass omitted this anecdote in Narrative.
6 . The lines Douglass quoted in MBMF, 132-33, appeared in Narrative, 91-93.
7 . Douglass provided a longer but similar description of Covey in MBMF than in Narrative, 101-6.
8 . Douglass provided a fuller description of Auld’s reaction to Douglass’s beating by Covey in MBMF than in Narrative, 110.
9 . Douglass provided a much more detailed description of Sandy in MBMF than in Narrative, 111.
10 . Douglass provided a much more detailed description of his fight with Covey in MBMB than in Narrative, 112-13.
11 . Douglass described the role of the other slaves in his fight with Covey in more detail in MBMF than in Narrative, 113.
12 . Douglass provided fuller treatment of the meaning and psychological impact of his fight with Covey in MBMF than in Narrative, 113.
13 . In Narrative, 120, Douglass mentioned that he held his Sabbath school at the house of a free black man. He omitted this in MBMF.
14 . In MBMF Douglass marked this as the start of his career as a public speaker. He omitted this point in Narrative, 122.
15 . Douglass omitted this analysis of slaveholders in Narrative.
16 . In MBMF Douglass took more credit for organizing the escape (“Not one of them was self-moved in the matter. They all wanted to be free ; but the serious thought of running away, had not entered into their minds, until I won them to the undertaking” [204]) than in Narrative, 122-23.
17 . Douglass’s description of the escape in MBMF, 206-207, resembled closely that in Narrative, 123-24.
18 . Douglass omitted Sandy’s dream in Narrative.
19 . In MBMF Douglass expanded upon the details of the escape by canoe in Narrative, 124.
20 . In MBMF Douglass included more details of the escape than in Narrative, 126-28.
21 . Douglass omitted the public response to the slaves’ arrest in Narrative.
22 . In Narrative Douglass did not mention Sandy as the betrayer of the plot.
23 . Douglass omitted this reference to his proposed emancipation in Narrative.
24 . As in Narrative, 143, in MBMF Douglass refused to discuss the details of his successful escape.
25 . Douglass omitted this description of racial discrimination in the North in Narrative.
26 . Chapter 23 of MBMF began where Narrative ended.
27 . Douglass referred to Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894), the Hungarian patriot, and Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872), the Italian revolutionary.
28 . Douglass referred to Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560), the German Protestant reformer.
29 . On “Jim Crow” railroads in Massachusetts in this period, see Louis Ruchames, “Jim Crow Railroads in Massachusetts,” American Quarterly 8 (spring 1956) : 61-75.
a Letter, Introduction to Life of Frederick Douglass, Boston, 1841.
b One of these ladies, impelled by the same noble spirit which carried Miss Nightingale to Scutari, has devoted her time, her untiring energies, to a great extent her means, and her high literary abilities, to the advancement and support of Frederick Douglass’ Paper, the only organ of the downtrodden, edited and published by one of themselves, in the United States.
c Mr. Stephen Myers, of Albany, deserves mention as one of the most persevering among the colored editorial fraternity.
d The German physiologists have even discovered vegetable matter—starch—in the human body. See Med. Chirurgical Rev., Oct., 1854, p. 339.
e Mr. Wm. H. Topp, of Albany.
f This is the same man who gave me the roots to prevent my being whipped by Mr. Covey. He was “a clever soul.” We used frequently to talk about the fight with Covey, and as often as we did so, he would claim my success as the result of the roots which he gave me. This superstition is very common among the more ignorant slaves. A slave seldom dies, but that his death is attributed to trickery.
g He was a whole-souled man, fully imbued with a love of his afflicted and hunted people, and took pleasure in being to me, as was his wont, “Eyes to the blind, and legs to the lame.” This brave and devoted man suffered much from the persecutions common to all who have been prominent benefactors. He at last became blind, and needed a friend to guide him, even as he had been a guide to others. Even in his blindness, he exhibited his manly character. In search of health, he became a physician. When hope of gaining his own was gone, he had hope for others. Believing in hydropathy, he established, at Northampton, Massachusetts, a large “Water Cure,” and became one of the most successful of all engaged in that mode of treatment.
h The following is a copy of these curious papers, both of my transfer from Thomas to Hugh Auld, and from Hugh to myself :
“Know all men by these Presents, That I, Thomas Auld, of Talbot county, and state of Maryland, for and in consideration of the sum of one hundred dollars, current money, to me paid by Hugh Auld, of the city of Baltimore, in the said state, at and before the sealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof, I, the said Thomas Auld, do hereby acknowledge, have granted, bargained, and sold, and by these presents do grant, bargain, and sell unto the said Hugh Auld, his executors, administrators, and assigns, ONE NEGRO MAN, by the name of FREDERICK BAILY, or DOUGLASS, as he calls himself—he is now about twenty-eight years of age—to have and to hold the said negro man for life. And I, the said Thomas Auld, for myself, my heirs, executors, and administrators, all and singular, the said FREDERICK BAILY, alias DOUGLASS, unto the said Hugh Auld, his executors, administrators, and assigns, against me, the said Thomas Auld, my executors, and administrators, and against all and every other person or persons whatsoever, shall and will warrant and forever defend by these presents. In witness whereof, I set my hand and seal, this thirteenth day of November, eighteen hundred and forty-six.
THOMAS AULD
“Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of Wrightson Jones. “JOHN C. LEAS.”
The authenticity of this bill of sale is attested by N. Harrington, a justice of the peace of the state of Maryland, and for the county of Talbot, dated same day as above.
“To all whom it may concern : Be it known, that I, Hugh Auld, of the city of Baltimore, in Baltimore county, in the state of Maryland, for divers good causes and considerations, me thereunto moving, have released from slavery, liberated, manumitted, and set free, and by these presents do hereby release from slavery, liberated, manumit, and set free, MY NEGRO MAN, named FREDERICK BAILY, otherwise called DOUGLASS, being of the age of twenty-eight years, or thereabouts, and able to work and gain a sufficient livelihood and maintenance ; and him the said negro man, named FREDERICK BAILY, otherwise called FREDERICK DOUGLASS, I do declare to be henceforth free, manumitted, and discharged from all manner of servitude to me, my executors, and administrators forever.
“In witness whereof, I, the said Hugh Auld, have hereunto set my hand and seal, the fifth of December, in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
HUGH AULD.
“Sealed and delivered in presence of T. Hanson Belt. “JAMES N. S. T. WRIGHT.”
i See Appendix to this volume, page 299.
j Mr. Douglass’ published speeches alone, would fill tw
o volumes of the size of this. Our space will only permit the insertion of the extracts which follow ; and which, for originality of thought, beauty and force of expression, and for impassioned, indignatory eloquence, have seldom been equaled.
k It is not often that chattels address their owners. The following letter is unique ; and probably the only specimen of the kind extant. It was written while in England.
l References to this edition of My Bondage and My Freedom are abbreviated as MBMF. References to Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, ed. Houston A. Baker, Jr. (1845; New York: Penguin Books, 1982), are abbreviated as Narrative.
My Bondage and My Freedom Page 45